Double the fun

On the 21st Dec 08, Eunice and I went out to east coast park (ECP for reference in this post, not the expressway).

We bought some snacks at IMM's Giant before driving there, and bought ourselves lunch from Mcdonald's drive-thru. Then we drove towards the end of ECP where we found a place to park along the road and yet very near to the beach. We then set down our picnic mat and had our lunch. The weather that day was really great, it was very cooling and windy.

Then later on we went to rent a double-bike for 2 hrs (1-for-1) and we really had a blast cycling through ECP together. Its really great to be able to do something fun together with her like this and yet give ourselves a workout. I have to say it's probably the best time I ever spent at ECP... sharing joy and laughter and feeling so close to her, the wind in our hair, the sun gracing us gently.

These few days spending my time with her during the holidays, i feel like im living the time of my life.












========== Side-Rant ==========
Something annoys the both of us greatly, and that is the transformation of ECP into refugee settlement camps. The pollution of tents all over the park makes it look very messy and crowded... it has now become a shelter for the homeless. Go to our neighbour in the north where land is abundant, don't do this to our precious landscape.

Near-War Experience & A Happy Day

Hello! I just had a super great day at JB with Eunice and her parents, I'm really happy because it's the first time going out with them, and things went really well :)

========== Near-War Experience ==========

Leaving the best for the last, I shall first rant about some really scary experiences we had, and they took place at possibly the world's worst immigration checkpoints... Hang on to your seats as some really serious ranting is about to happen... No offense to malaysians, I have nothing against you. But please do something about your non-existant government.

The horror starts right from when we got down the bus to get our passports stamped at the malaysia side. The queue starts right from where we got off the bus, and stretches all the way to the counters. I estimate the length of the queue to be roughly 60 to 70 meters... Ok well, maybe its because its a saturday and many people are going over to shop and eat... I don't mind to queue a little while, but is it so hard to make us feel comfortable while we are at it? Don't they have some money to install working air conditioners? Don't they have money to hire people to clean the fans? Do they even have the brains to separate the queue lines with fences so that we will know where to start queuing? (No, the couple section of fences right in front of the booth doesn't count.) And why is there a person paid to give out white cards while he can be chopping passports? Haven't they heard of automation? Or maybe the word "organisation"? Or "order"? How about "common sense"? I don't feel a little bit welcome at all. Instead I saw stupidity, laziness and outright retarded-ness. They do not deserve tourism in their country. At all.

Fast forward to the time of escaping back to peace and prosperity... The same thing happens at the counters. This time, the queue starts right from the landing of an escalator. And then its madness and chaos. Its just a crowd, all squeezed together... I felt like I was in a concentration camp, just that there weren't any Nazi soldiers. Things were reallllyyy crawling, there were like a million people trying to get out of the war zone, and the "brilliant" government of malaysia built a little hut with about 6 counter booths. Imagine a small gate, and trying to get a billion sheep to cross that gate. They even have a few immigration officers standing there doing absolutely nothing at all. Some of them were trying to look important while some were just keeping the snail passport choppers company, happily smiling and talking while we were dying out there. At one point I was actually scared for the safety of my honey, because the mob was getting impatient and pushing towards the booths, hoping they can maybe overrun the checkpoint. I wouldn't be surprised if one day a stampede happens and people die. While queuing up to get their passports chopped. It will be the joke of the millenia. Cockroaches will still remember and laugh about it after humans go extinct.

I was relieved to get out of that hot, sweaty pile of human jam. Although I have been to malaysia before, this is undoubtedly my worst experience (at the checkpoints). I'm amazed that a short bridge can separate a first world country from a third world country, order from chaos, heaven from hell. I'm no great supporter of PAP, but let me say I am so proud of what my government has done. Lucky us Singaporeans that we have a government, because our neighbour has none. The stark difference you will experience, the moment the automatic doors slide open after you get off escalators that actually move: Cold air. Order. Peace. Singapore.

Word of advice, DO NOT go to JB during the weekends unless you are planning on committing suicide. I wonder if the new checkpoints will prove me wrong about malaysia not having a government... I wouldn't count on it to allow myself to go during the weekends yet. Maybe someone can be a guinea pig and tell me? If you manage to come back alive, that is.

========== A Happy Day ==========

Now for happy things!!! =) I'm gonna talk about what an incredible day I had with Eunice and her parents... I'm so happy because its the first time I went out with them and everything went really smooth. They are a very nice couple and we shared many moments of joy and laughter. I feel great to be able to have them accept me, feels wonderful! I can feel my relationship with Eunice getting into a higher level, now that I have met her parents. And out of accident, I also met her sister and brother-in-law =) I have now met all of her family members (met her brother, sister-in-law and their new born baby awhile ago), and just yesterday I was at her place and I met Eunice's 7 year-old niece and 4 year-old nephew, whom I really enjoyed playing with haha... they are such cute little things. Now back to the JB trip...

We shopped for the entire afternoon after having lunch at Secret Recipe, at City Square. Her parents were really generous and nice, treating me to lunch and dinner. After we were done shopping at City Square, we went to Holiday Plaza to get DVDs. In order to get them, we had to get to the third floor, and enter a room that is well hidden away from the public, especially the polis. In the room, we were greeted by a very friendly guy which provided us with superior service in finding the movies we wanted, being very patient in looking for missing titles and taking care of all our pirated needs. I have to say I was really impressed. We bought 32 movies in all, and with free delivery to our homes, we didn't have to worry about being caught.

The last item on the iternary of the day was a sumptuous dinner at Teman Sri Tebrau, where we had stingray, cereal crayfish, kangkong, sotong and penang char kway tiao :p Just listing them out makes my mouth water again haha...

Another reason that I am so happy is because Eunice and me really had lots of fun shopping, talking and laughing about all sorts of stuff. Everything is so right when I'm with her, we can agree on anything and this connection feels so magical... everytime I hold her hands and look into her eyes, I feel so lucky to have her. 

I love you, Eunice :)

Keeping the door closed and locked

Hello everybody! EXAMS ARE OVER hahahaah...

I'm really excited with the lineup of activities eunice and me have planned for the holidays... cant wait to do all of them!

I have wanted to write this post for a damn long time, but haven't really got the chance to do it. This article is more for people who are not so aware of how to keep their Windows PC (especially XP and older) safe and sound. For those who are more aware, maybe you can exchange ideas with me, and I can add them in here.

I have thought to myself a long time ago, why do people's PCs keep getting bugged down with viruses, spyware and other malware? Is it because they surf alot of porn? What could be the reasons? After many experiences of troubleshooting infected PCs (some FUBAR-ed...), I have come to realise the 3 grave mistakes people make, which led to their PC's horrible deaths...

1. Performing daily tasks using an administrator account, especially web surfing. Most people don't even know what is an administrator account.
2. Windows not updated. Most people simply don't care or don't know how to do it.
3. No anti-virus software installed, or not updated. Most people have a few months of trial period on their anti-virus and just leave it there to rot after it expires, because they have to pay to renew the license.
   

Now I shall share with you how to do things the proper way. This is how I have kept my computers safe for years without ever needing to reformat my disks.

1. Use the admin account only for installation of programs and other admin tasks. Create a limited account for your normal work (especially web surfing). If you have to download files for installation, use the limited account. Trust me, the little amount of trouble from switching accounts is worth it.
   
2. Set your Windows installation to update itself automatically. This will allow your Windows installation to be patched with security fixes regularly. The malicious software removal tool which is updated monthly will also be provided automatically through Windows update.
3. Set your anti-virus software to update its virus database regularly. If you can afford to, then pay for an extension of licenses. If not, just simply download a free anti-virus solution from the internet. e.g. AVG free

Take note that these are simple solutions for common day-to-day security problems people face at home, and should be rather easy to practice once you get used to them.

Many users are simply not aware of what to do, and a little education can help alot. Do not be ignorant about these matters, knowing what you should practice as a user can help save alot of your precious time. You do not want to keep reformatting your hard disks right?